December 28, 2006

It's Official: I'm Strange.

After three days of Family, Food & Fun, it's good to be back home. Now that we've unloaded the Deluxe Family Transport, it's time to "play with the toys"...but first, a realization that (no doubt) many of you have also experienced.

I'm strange.

You see, in the northern Minnesota town where I was raised, men do basically three things:

1. Hunt

2. Build/fix stuff.

3. Watch football.

I do none of these things. I'm not the least bit interested in these things. I'm fine with that, as is my family. But I've gotta say, there are times when the gulf between me and the rest of my family's more traditional "menfolk" is more keenly felt....like Christmas day...which I will reenact for you now:

"Okay, Dad, it's your turn."

"Wow! A new hunting vest...and a box of ammo....thanks!"

"Hey, Mike (my brother), your turn."

"Yeah! A new compound miter saw! Just what I wanted!"

"Next? You're turn, Mark....what did you get?"

"A Marvel Masterworks 'Doctor Strange' collection! Excellent!"

(cue sound of crickets chirping).

"Er...Doctor what?"

Compound that reaction with my opening of my Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs (vol. 4) and the Krypton Companion, and it occurs to me (for the 4,687th time) that I'm not what you'd consider your "Traditional Northern Minnesota Male". In fact, I'm just a little...Strange!

Someone (Toby something?) wrote a rather entertaining book about Bob (Positively Main Street ?) in which he told how he visited Bob's hometown, spoke to his old schoolmates and relatives and actually found some of His Bobness's comics in the basement of his childhood home in either Hibbing or Duluth.
Nip over and pinch them for me will you...he was apparently into Classics Illustrated and Ripley's Believe it or not.
Oh well.